Wednesday, March 04, 2015

Sometimes you need to help out a friend, know what I mean? My buddy Stephanie was destashing.. and she has ADORABLE things.. like.. REALLY adorable.. so I decided to help her out, because I'm a GREAT friend like that.. wink!

Stephanie has a GREAT eye for color combos. Look at this amazing bundle.. well it was TWO bundles, but whose counting? Let me show you what I got ... above is awesome rick rack, and a bias tape trimmed with teeny lace edge.. adorable!

The blue buildings? old Tea-towel! And the dotty navy bit? a feather soft hankie like my grandmother had.. swoon!

Now to show you what a great eye she has, I stacked the fabric with the vintage pieces and they are incredibly lovely.

and all the other bits in the bag go so well.. I can't stop playing with them!

There are a lot of strips from a project Stephanie did.. many are Denyse Schmidt fabrics. Which i love!

The last bit... a feedsack so soft you could use it for a pillow case.

Anyone know anything about this feedsack?

So what does one do when they aquire a collection like this?

Unfold it all

refold it all

stack it

Restack it

Make groupings

Touch all the pieces and feel how soft they are

stack again

take photos

share

my brain is whirling with ideas... I do believe I'll make a quilt with all of it. Something abstract and traditional.... some blocks, some big chunks to show off the wonderful fabrics. I will add in my own fabrics too..

The first thing you will notice is that the pinked edge creates a lot of fuzz. You may be like me and gotten excited and taken the ribbon off before cleaning up the roll, it happens!

It's easier to clean it prior to unwrapping, but if you forgot, just wrap the roll with a rubber band, easy fix!

Roll the top and bottom of the jelly roll with a lint roller. The first time I heard this tip was from my good buddy Kimberly Einmo when she was on my podcast. Best tool to keep in your studio!

In a perfect world, NOW we unwrap the roll!

I LOVE how a jelly roll looks, and I'm tempted to have 2, one to decorate with and one to use.. do you ever think about that, or is it only me?

I LOVE fanning out the strips!

One of the most interesting parts about a purchased Jelly roll is that it's one collection. And every collection has different colorways. In this one there are several aqua based fabrics, and then the aqua is repeated in a few of the prints. But it is primarily a pink and red line with black and aqua accents.

This is something to think about when using it in the design you selected.

For my Valentine Sew Along I am using my 'Stitched' pattern. I need to decide if I want to add in the aqua or leave it out. Or maybe I want MORE aqua which means purchasing a bit more fabric depending on the size quilt I'm making.

I make all these decisions before starting a jelly roll project, and I may even do some test blocks to see how I like the colors.

Use Steam! It will help to realign the fibers if you use steam when you iron the strips. They will relax and lose the curl that has been forced into them by being rolled up.

Next - working with Pinked Fabric EdgesMost Jelly rolls have a pinked edge.

The Moda precuts are 2.5" wide from the OUTSIDE points of the pinked edges.

Other companies may be different. So I suggest you measure your precut pieces before you sew to be sure they are 2.5"

If your strips are not 2.5" wide, you need to trim them and it's better to know now!

What about sewing? When you use a straight cut edge, it's easy to see the strips are lined up. With a pinked edge you need to match them but don't let them slide.

Here is where you can see the strip below ABOVE the edge on the top. If you sew like this your piece will not come out right.

So let's do a quick test of our 1/4" seam.

I use an edge foot on my Babylock Crescendo. You can see that the POINT of the pinked edge is right next to the edge guide.

Press open the 2 strips and they will should measure 4.5" wide from pinked POINT to pinked POINT. If they do not, figure out what you need to adjust so your seam allowance is 1/4".

Here is my Kiss Kiss with the dots for the setting, the pink fabric is from my stash and i am going to use it for the backing. I am not sure how I'll use the red Moda Dottie, I like it and I might cut a few strips to add to the Kiss Kiss strips!

Sunday, December 21, 2014

Time for some sharing! I rarely show you a quilt pattern in progress that will be for a book, because the books come out so far down the road, but today I thought I'd show you how I go about auditioning applique for a project. And then at the end I'd love for you to share a quilt of yours with me!

Ok? ok!

(ps..if you are reading this through your email subscription, click the BANNER in your email to come to my article to see ALL the photos, subscribe by email HERE)

This is such a yummy collection! There is a section of it with peach, so i had drawn the original plan to use peach circles.. but as i was working I wasnt' sure there was enough OTHER peach in the quilt. So i cut the circles to audition the color.

It looks like TOO much peach. Like all I'll SEE is peach. so let's adjust!

What if I had a dark circle?

Maybe a printed navy circle?

Let's just get rid of the peach and try blue in both spots.

ok.. i love this a LOT more.. but one more audition

Ahhhhh.. THIS is it!! What do you think?

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Now it's your turn, share a quilt below by clicking the BLUE bar to load up your photo, no website is necessary!

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